Corporations buy government.

You have to pay to play in Washington, and perhaps it's no
surprise to find that most corporations would rather play with the
GOP. Corporate lobbyists are celebrating the election of George W.
Bush and a Republican Congress because that's where they put their
money.

Using the Center for Responsive Politics' database (opensecrets.org),
Hightower Lowdown in its January issue compiled a list of big-time
corporate funders of Bush and the Republican Congress. "None of this
is charitable giving," Hightower wrote. The corporate executives
define "good government" as the corporate agenda: "turn America's
Social Security fund over to the stock brokers; let oil, mining and
timber giants plunder our natural resources; protect drug companies
from consumers seeking cheaper prescription medicines from abroad;
hold down the minimum wage; promote more job-busting trade scams and
do all possible to break the backs of unions; allow the media giants
to get tighter control of our public airwaves, etc."

Many corporations did attempt to be even-handed in their
donations, but the Republican leadership has been increasingly
demanding that corporate lobbyists stop funding Democratic candidates
or lose access to GOP officials. Hightower's list included those
corporations and their executives that put up at least $75,000 in the
'04 presidential and congressional elections, and were among the top
20 donors in their category, with at least two-thirds of their money
going to the GOP. TPP expanded the list of corporations to include
the relatively few major Democratic funders, with their total '04
contributions and percent to the favored party. (Hightower plans a
follow-up list in his February newsletter.)